Napkin dispensers are well known in the art. There is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,252 to Hope, Jr. et al., a large capacity elevator-type napkin dispenser comprising an elongated supporting structure or cage composed of a series of spaced rod-like vertical supports. A stack of folded napkins is supported on a pressure plate that is mounted on a carriage adapted to slide vertically within the cage. The pressure plate is supported from the carriage by a plurality of compression springs which enable the pressure plate to float and accommodate the varying thickness of the stack of folded napkins. A cover is mounted on the upper end of the cage and has an opening through which the napkins are dispensed. The pressure plate and stack of napkins are urged upwardly toward the undersurface of the cover by a biasing mechanism that includes a pair of extension springs. The springs have a varying spring rate so that the force of the springs will be greatest when the pressure plate is fully loaded with napkins.
Radek discloses another vertically oriented napkin dispenser in U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,442 wherein there is shown a napkin dispenser for disposition on a restaurant table or counter and normally housing a stack of paper napkins. The dispenser is in the form of a parallelpiped with a top access opening for loading and removing napkins. The opening is generally rectangular except for a concavely arcuate edge on one side from which napkins are normally extracted. Two opposed sides of the opening normal to the arcuate edge are provided with a pair of relatively narrow spring biased leaves resiliently extendable into the container to facilitate loading, the free edges of said leaves being longitudinally gently oblique and widening toward the aforesaid arcuate edge. Each of said leaves has a longitudinal outwardly turned lip and the exposed corners of the leaves are rounded. All of said features contribute toward convenient extraction of a napkin without damage. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,415, also to Radek.
Further features of napkin and towel dispensers are seen in the following: EPO Application 0 101 287 of Evans; U.S. Pat. No. 4,329,001 of Filipowicz et al. U.S. Pat. No. 2,840,268 of Casey et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 4,155,484 of Pastore; U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,293 of Pelterson et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,964,375 of Carlson et al.
Despite advances in the art, many issues with dispensers remain unresolved. For one, most napkin dispensers do not have a large capacity and need to be re-filled frequently adding to labor costs and/or causing consumer inconvenience. Moreover, it is desirable to lock dispensers so that they cannot be opened by unauthorized personnel; however, keys get lost. It will be appreciated from the foregoing patents that existing dispensers are relatively expensive to fabricate and install especially when made of multiple parts including metal parts requiring multiple fasteners, springs, brackets and the like.
Existing high capacity napkin dispenser are also oftentimes difficult to reload. When the cover is open, the napkins are not sufficiently retained within the dispenser such that a technician must exercise considerable skill in order to refill the dispenser without assistance or damaging product.
Still yet other issues include reliably feeding the napkins to the dispensing aperture without damaging the product by way of tearing, or jamming of the dispenser as will be appreciated by one of skill in the art.